Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Acquired by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 19.7%, owning 28,783 shares valued at approximately $1.68 million as of the end of the last quarter.
• Several institutional investors have adjusted their positions in Monster Beverage, contributing to a notable 72.36% ownership by such entities.
• Monster Beverage reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.48, with a revenue of $2.11 billion for the last quarter.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 19.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,783 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $1,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MNST. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,887 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 724 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Monster Beverage by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,838 shares of the company's stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.9% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,853 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its position in Monster Beverage by 3.0% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 7,527 shares of the company's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Roth Capital reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Monster Beverage from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.10.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of MNST traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.64. 4,845,731 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,720,911. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $61.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.59. Monster Beverage Corporation has a 52-week low of $45.70 and a 52-week high of $66.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.12 billion, a PE ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 20.54%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Monster Beverage

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total transaction of $1,711,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. The trade was a 28.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $637,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 51,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.